Thermal Technology, a leading manufacturer of high temperature furnace systems and crystal growth equipment, announced the commercial availability of their 90 kg Kyropoulos sapphire crystal grower.  Several systems are currently in use at a customer’s facility producing 250mm diameter by 400mm long crystals grown in the Kyropoulos method.  The newly designed model K1 Kyropoulos Crystal Grower is suitable for LED substrate production.  The tool's short cycle time makes it the most productive grower commercially available.

Thermal Technology began development of their K1 Kyropoulos Crystal Grower in 2009 and has successfully developed the grower, or tool, and the process.  The company is receiving orders worldwide. To satisfy the high demand of the rapidly growing sapphire market, Thermal Technology has ramped up tool production and is shipping systems weekly.

"The unique crystal size and tool capability are quickly making Thermal Technology the industry leader in this market sector," says Matt Mede, Thermal Technology president and CEO.  “By rapidly achieving a status on par with other long-established producers, we have proven the superiority of our unique design which includes multiple, independently-controlled heating elements, weight sensors to determine the crystal’s growth rate and computerized control and data logging.”

Sapphire crystals have multiple high technology applications, most dominantly as substrate wafers for high brightness blue and white light emitting diodes or LEDs.  These LEDs are employed in various uses including traffic lights, backlighting for flat panel displays of computer monitors, televisions and cell phones and common lighting applications such as street lights and household bulbs.

Thermal Technology designs and manufactures crystal growing systems and high temperature vacuum and controlled atmosphere laboratory furnaces for the advanced processing of metals, ceramics, glass and quartz. Thermal Technology has 60 years of experience and more than 3000 installations in 40 countries.